G20 cop trial to begin today after previous false start

TORONTO – The trial of a second Toronto police officer on allegations stemming from the G20 protests is set to begin today after a false start earlier this week.

The trial of Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani was originally scheduled to start Monday, but was delayed because a new video of the arrest in question surfaced.

Both the Crown and defence lawyers said they needed more time to review the new evidence, which the Special Investigations Unit turned over to them on Friday.

Andalib-Goortani is charged with assault with a weapon over allegations that excessive force was used against a protester at the G20 summit in 2010.

An agreed statement of facts indicates protester Adam Nobody dropped a water bottle behind a police line and tests determined it contained ethanol, an ignitable liquid.

The joint statement says it’s agreed that Nobody’s arrest was lawful, the central question is whether the force used was lawful.

A separate trial is set for next year for Andalib-Goortani, 30, on a second charge of assault with a weapon that was laid by Toronto police.

Last week Const. Glenn Weddell, the other Toronto police officer who faced criminal charges in the G20 protests, was found not guilty of assault.

Police came under intense criticism for their handling of protests that boiled over into violence and vandalism.

The vast majority of the more than 1,100 people detained in what Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin called “the most massive compromise of civil liberties in Canadian history” were released without charge.